Melbourne Demons' resurgence due to more than just Paul Roos

Melbourne coach Paul Roos may not be the messiah, but it's clear there is something divine about the AFL club's brain trust.

The reality is Roos has not single-handedly turned the Demons around, despite the cliché gaining momentum with every well-earned win.

As the man himself was quick to point out earlier this week, plenty of key figures have helped the club already double the number of victories they celebrated in 2013.

Excitingly for Melbourne fans, when it comes to the coaches' box, most of the new faces were also part of the Roos revolution that landed Sydney's drought-breaking premiership in 2005.

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"You can see the bond they have together from their time at the Swans," defender Colin Garland says of the way Roos works with game-day assistants George Stone, Ben Mathews and Daniel McPherson.

"You're thinking, 'Geez I really, really want that'. The total trust they have in each other, and just the way they interact.

"They're also able to relate some Sydney stories to us of when they first got together and started their climb up.

"It makes it seem a bit more real when you hear those sort of things."

Midfield and strategy specialist Stone is the old hand, having worked as Hawthorn's under-19 assistant coach in 1984 and never stopped coaching at an VFL/AFL club since.

"But he certainly knows what the modern game is about," hard-nosed on-baller Jack Viney says, attributing the Demons' improved midfield in part to Stone.

Stone's bank of football knowledge and anecdotes is one of the low-key operator's many strengths.

Tadhg Kennelly, the first Irishman to win an AFL premiership, is among those to have learnt the game under Stone's tutelage and come to love his calming influence.

Dom Tyson, in his first year at Melbourne after starting his career with GWS, agrees with Kennelly's assessment of Stone.

"He's good to chat to about football and life," he said.

"You might think something big is wrong with your game.

"He'll slow you down and say, 'Don't stress, don't stress. We can fix it'."

And he will. With an eye for detail.

"You watch things with him, and he sees things naturally that you don't," Tyson adds. "It might be running patterns for example. He will pause it, explain how you could cut an angle better and could have got a kick. It gets you thinking."

Viney and Tyson are also both quick to credit Mathews, who played 198 games for the Swans and epitomised the club-first culture that was entrenched under Roos.

"He's more hands on," Tyson says of midfield coach Mathews, who followed Roos to the Demons after coaching jobs at Queensland's two AFL clubs.

"If your tackling wasn't great on the weekend, he'll come out on the track and do some extra tackling."